Hi everyone, happy Friday! The devotional today comes from a psalm of David – Psalm 65.
[1] Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion,
and to you shall vows be performed.
[2] O you who hear prayer,
to you shall all flesh come.
[3] When iniquities prevail against me,
you atone for our transgressions.
[4] Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
to dwell in your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
the holiness of your temple!
[5] By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
O God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas;
[6] the one who by his strength established the mountains,
being girded with might;
[7] who stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples,
[8] so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
[9] You visit the earth and water it;
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide their grain,
for so you have prepared it.
[10] You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
[11] You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.
[12] The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
[13] the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.
This is a psalm of thanksgiving sung by David. As I was reflecting on this psalm, I was trying to imagine where David was and what David was seeing as he was singing this song. So I want to invite you to imagine with me that you are David in Zion singing this song on the Day of Atonement. Where do I see this?
Well, David begins by saying in verses 1-3, “Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed. O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come. When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions.” It’s not explicitly stated here, but I think it can be implied that David is in Zion, the city of David, a mighty fortress in Jerusalem. And the language of vows, atonement, hearing prayers, and, later on in verses 4-5, courts and temple alludes to the timing of the Day of Atonement. And it’s on this day that David remembers God’s faithfulness to keep his covenant promises to “establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:13-16).
And as he looks around him in Zion, he sees God’s “awesome deeds” (v. 5). How he answers their prayers with righteousness and salvation. How he protects his people by establishing the mountains with might (v. 6). How he brings peace and stillness amongst the seas and their waves and among the people (v. 7). And how his presence brings about a bountiful harvest in the land (vv. 9-13).
The land of Zion was flourishing. David recognized that the harvest was the Lord’s doing. God visited the earth and had blessed Zion. I want to read verses 9-13 again for us. And as I do this, I want to invite you to close your eyes and imagine David saying this as he’s looking around the land of Zion:
[9] You visit the earth and water it;
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide their grain,
for so you have prepared it.
[10] You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
[11] You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.
[12] The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
[13] the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.
Creation shouts and sings together for joy because they know who gave them life. They know that it is only by His strength and His might that they overflow with abundance and grow in beauty and are girded with joy. Creation knew its Creator. So did David. As he looked at the creation around him, he was reminded of God’s protection and provision, that He alone is the God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth.
But to be honest, I felt like this was an odd way to end the psalm. It felt, in a way, incomplete. David started the psalm by saying, “Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion” (v. 1). But he ends by saying that creation – the rivers, the furrows, the wagon tracks, the pastures, the hills, the meadows, the valleys – “they shout and sing together for joy” (v. 13). What about the people in Zion? What about David and the people in his kingdom?
I felt like the Lord was asking us, will we join in with all creation, shouting and singing together for joy, for our God is the God of salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas. He is the One who protects us, brings peace among us, and provides for us. He is faithful to keep His promises through Christ. Let’s join in with creation and praise our God together!
